...whether to write by person or by time line...and I never know who may still be looking at this since it's been forever since I last posted - but I'm feeling the need to write again so here goes...by time line...
So school kicked off at the end of August and went right into cross country for Jared and Alex. It has been a lot of fun attending the meets and cheering them on and watching them both improve incredibly over the last 2 months. I think doing the individual competitions has been more exciting for them than the team ones, since our team is very small. But considering that this is the first official year for having a varsity high school cross country team 6 young men is not so bad of a start. Jared has really pushed himself and even impressed his coach. Last week when it was cold and started raining on them while practicing - the coach told the students they could turn around and head back to the school if it was too cold or continue on and finish the full run (which I think may have been a 5 mile run). And just when the coach thought Jared was going to turn around at the crosswalk and head back he pushed on and completed the full run! Jared came into my office soaked to the bone and shivering - the poor guy, but he did great! They have one last meet tomorrow that is an individual run as well - should be fun!
We then had our first week vacation in October in which the 5 of us went to Kill Devil Hills, NC. It was an amazing week full of beauty and relaxation with a little tourism and fun thrown in. For those who are not familiar with this area it is right on the coast, the Outer Banks, which is a long strip of sand that we humans have been crazy enough to build homes, businesses, condo's and hotels along. The condo's we stayed in were facing the Atlantic ocean and so the view was incredible every day. We swam in the ocean almost every day except for 1 day in the middle of the week because it was very cold and the ocean was pretty turbulent, and then the last day we did not swim either. Kill Devil Hills is also the location where the Wright Brother's took their first flight - so we went to the monument and got to see a replica of that first plane along with a couple of buildings - one they lived in and one the worked on the plane in. Then there was the hang gliding - which I think the video's can kind of speak for themselves. I'll post them on here later. It was a wonderful time and we hope we can go back again next year!
We had to leave our vacation a day early as the boys had their PSATs that Saturday and then Jared had to get packed up for this 10th grade curriculum week long trip. While Alex was finalizing his internship with the Art Therapy Institute.
So here I'm going to go into a proud momma moment with Alex. Out of all the students in his class he was the only one who completely cold called for his internship. The other students either did their internships with current or alumni parents or they interned at a place of business that their parents have friends or contacts in. So to me that first step was HUGE as some grown-ups cannot even do that - and he did it on his own. We googled Art Therapy and found the Art Therapy Institute in Durham and he grabbed the phone, called the number and left a detailed message. When he didn't hear back the next day he did it again and left his email that time, and sure enough he received an email and everything went forward from there. The other great thing is that instead of just a week internship, which is what our school requires, he is going to intern for the whole school year. He was originally supposed to work with some refugees children from Burma but because he would have had to leave class one day week that didn't quite work out - but he will be doing one-on-one work with a young girl named McKayla who has some issues (not sure what yet) but would benefit from art therapy. Alex will be starting the week after this one - as soon as his TB tests come back and we get a background check done - then he's all set! I'm very proud of him!
Alex also had his 17th birthday during that intern week - and though it was low-key I think he's enjoying his new birthday present (no, not a car) but a mini-laptop. It's pretty sweet!
Jared came back from a week of hanging out with his classmates and friends having learned about textiles. I think he was happy to be home and sleeping in his bed once again. :)
The boys also hosted a Halloween party at our house on Halloween. I think it was a success. We had 20 teenagers at our house from 6 until midnight and then the girls had to go home. We ended up with a total of 8 guys staying the night and boy, they were up late, until about 4am I think! There was loud music (boy those Bose speakers can really play loudly), lots of pizza and junk food and the hot tub - all was good!
We've received their interim grades so far this year and they are both doing awesome! Mostly A's with a couple of B's - so all-in-all they are doing great! Jared is in the midst of learning his lines for the 10th grade play, "You Can't Take It With You" and Alex is reading and discussing Parsival. And starting next week we move right into basketball season... yippee! It was so much fun last year that I cannot wait for this year. We have been allowed back on the league so there are many more games than last year and these games will be real ones - go Fighting Gnomes!!
So, as you can see, every day we are home very late, and now that we have fallen back in time it's pitch black by the time we get home. It's homework (prepping for Shannon), dinner, hot tub, and then one of our many netflix tv show addictions before going to bed to start all over again.
Shannon is doing well in his class - he just accepted a new student - Michelle Nelson. So he is at 24 students for this year. It sounds like there may be one more coming for a visit after our holiday break, but they won't be joining until 4th grade. He is knee deep in farming and dirt with his class - which is all fun!
I'm constantly kept busy in the office at school - besides my normal daily work stuff we are in the middle of an audit and trying to become accredited so I have taken on many other tasks that would not normally be mine to help things flow smoothly and get completed. I have given myself the nickname "Xena"! :) And just around the corner is re-enrollment - so it's never ending! I can honestly say that I am never bored at work - ever!
The guys are still practicing driving with their permits - but I don't think they are driving enough. We need to step that up some and Shannon and I need to become lazy and say we "just can't drive" and see how that goes?? I still think a defensive driving course would be the best thing for both of them so I need to take the time to research that and find out how much it will cost us...ugh!
I think that's all the news for now. I'm sure I missed some things along the way - but at least this is something.
Happy Martinmas everyone!
